"You DATED him?!" Katie shrieked in Val's ear the second they were alone in our hotel room.

"Yeah, did I forget to mention that?" Val replied innocently.

"Uhm, yeah, you did," Katie replied, annoyed.

Val's brows furrowed at her tone. "What's the big deal? So I didn't tell you about one guy. It wasn't something I ever wanted to have to think about again."

"The big deal is that I'm supposed to be your best friend, Val!" Katie almost yelled. "And I have to find out from a drowsy drowning victim that you dated him! A rockstar! Lead guitarist of Connect 3?!"

Val winced as Katie's pitch rose with every word. "See, maybe this is why I didn't want to tell you I was dating a rockstar," Val said.

Katie sighed. "I'm sorry for freaking out," she apologized. "I'm just hurt that you didn't tell me."

Val hugged her friend tightly. "Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"But now that explains everything," Katie said with a devious smile.

"What are you talking about now?" Val asked, sending a suspicious look towards her blonde friend.

"All that pent up sexual tension between you and Jason," Katie replied simply.

"Whoa! What?!" Val exclaimed. If she had been drinking something, she definitely would have spit it out.

Katie couldn't hold back a giggle. "You heard me," she said, still smiling. "It totally explains why you hate Jason. You guys totally ended things with unresolved issues. Which is why you hate him. Because you luurrrvvveee him."

Val hit Katie with a pillow, but Katie just laughed. "I never loved that airheaded, cookie-dough popstar."

Hearing the passion in Val's voice, Katie's giggling immediately subdued. Sensing a serious, unresolved issue, she asked more seriously, "So what really did happen between you guys?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Val replied darkly as she began to unpack her suitcase, her back to her inquisitive friend.

WNPFW

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Vikki asked, pacing their room angrily. She had been asking similar questions for the last half an hour, and Jason was wondering how much longer it'd take her to stop.

"Tell you about what?" he asked, clueless as always.

"About you and Val, you idiot!" she exclaimed. As soon as she said that, Jason pouted. He hated when people called him that.

"I didn't think you'd care. Whenever I try to tell you something, you don't let me!" he exclaimed. Vikki sighed in exasperation.

"That's beside the point!" she exclaimed.

Jason pouted some more, wondering what he did to make her that mad. She was usually nice to him, especially when they went shopping, but sometimes, like now, she would get really mad at him for something. Jason usually didn't know why she got mad, but most of the time, offering to buy her something seemed to do the trick. Knowing it'd worked before, that's what he tried doing this time.

"Do you want me to buy you something?" he asked.

She frowned at him, confused, as usual, about how his mind worked. He seemed to make the most childish connections sometimes, like if he wanted something, he could just pout. Then again, she wasn't very different, so she could see how the thought process went. "Why do you think buying me something will solve everything?"

Jason burrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Well, that one time I didn't have anything for you when we went on a date, I bought you a necklace and you weren't mad anymore. And that other time, you wanted a-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" she exclaimed, patience long forgotten. "That is really beside the point right now."

"Why?" Jason asked innocently. Vikki, giving one more exasperated sigh, stormed out of the room, leaving Jason there, puzzled as to why his girlfriend just left. Did he do something wrong?

WNPFW

That night, Val and Katie walked into the restaurant at the hotel. The restaurant had long since closed, and was now acting as a club. It was stuffed, too, and Val found herself getting claustrophobic right away. She hated parties, but had decided to humor Katie because she felt as if she owed it to her - after all, she hadn't told Katie about Jason, and in her opinion, friends should tell each other everything.

She definitely did not want to be here. Maybe the whole being a good friend could start tomorrow? Val looked at Katie, who was in her element, swaying to the music, and bouncing up and down excitedly. The whole room was pulsing with the beat of the song, and bodies were moving against each other to the rhythm of the music. Val couldn't help but wish she had any dancing ability - she thought that maybe, if she did, going to parties wouldn't be so bad. But she didn't, and going to parties was not something she did usually. In fact, the only reason she would ever show up at a party was if Katie dragged her there.

They found a small table, and while Val sat down, Katie went to get them some sodas. Looking around the room, Val marveled at all the people dancing there. There were a lot of people doing the same rhythmical dance, but it looked great anyway. She could also see the non-party people standing uncomfortably on the sidelines. Those two dudes, Jason... She kept looking at everyone, until she realized who she'd just seen.

She looked at Jason again, surprised to see him there. If there was one thing she knew, it was that he didn't like parties either. It was probably that nasty girlfriend of his - Val knew she didn't like him from the first moment she saw her. No one should treat Jason like she did - not even Val did. She glanced at Jason again. He looked so uncomfortable, yet he still looked cute. It kind of reminded her of that first day they met - at a party, coincidentally enough.

Val tugged on the hem of the shirt Katie had insisted for her to wear, feeling out-of-place. Yeah, she was friends with Ian, who had been a bunch of famous people's manager, but that didn't mean she was exactly at home with all these famous people. Was that Hannah Montana over there?

"Ian, I came, I brought Katie, she can take my place, now can I go?" Val pleaded to her long time family friend.

"Val gal, I think you know me well enough to know I'll say no," Ian winked, waving over to a couple of guys with dark hair who started making their way towards Val and Ian. "I want you to meet my new clients. A band picked up at Camp Rock. They're called Connect 3."

"Hey, Ian," they all greeted. Val noticed them checking her out, so she felt it was only fair if she did the same. The smallest one had a mysterious air about him, a mop of curly, dark brown hair on his head. The one in the middle had straight, black hair, his eyes half-closed, a small smile on his face as he bopped his head to the music. The last one had straight brown hair, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Hey, guys," Ian greeted. "I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Valentina. But don't call her that, or she'll kill you."

"Thanks for the wonderful introduction, Ian," Val replied sarcastically, glaring at her friend.

"Well, what should we call you then? Because I'd rather not take the chance of you killing me," the one with the straight hair joked.

"Val," she replied, smiling at the three boys. She soon learned their names. The one with the curly hair was Nate Black. The one with the straight hair was Shane Gray, and the one who looked as uncomfortable as she did was Jason Green.

"As nice as it was meeting you, Val, I think I hear the dance floor calling my name. Would you like to join me?" Shane asked companionably. He was obviously the most outgoing of the trio.

"No thanks," Val declined politely, "I'd rather not embarrass myself with all these celebrities around." Shane gave her a small smile before disappearing into the crowd of swaying bodies. Nate seemed to have moved on to another conversation with an older man, leaving her with an uncomfortable looking Jason.

"Do you wanna get away from here?" she asked him. "This isn't really my thing." Jason's face lit up at the opportunity to get away as he nodded.

The newly met pair walked in silence to the courtyard, where they spent the rest of the night avoiding their friends and enjoying each other's company.

If Jason was there, didn't that mean Vikki had to be there somewhere, too? Val looked for her around the room, and sure enough, she was there -- in the middle of it all. Figures, she thought. Of course she'd abandon poor Jason at a party so she could be the center of attention. Val rolled her eyes, and decided her good deed of the day would be rescuing Jason from the hell he was probably in right now. What a girlfriend Vikki was. Shouldn't she know how much Jason hated parties by now?

Katie still wasn't back with the drinks, so Val stood up from her chair and walked over to Jason. She knew he probably wouldn't hear her, even if she yelled, so she just grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

They went outside to the terrace the restaurant had. He smiled at her gratefully, but she scowled at him.

"Save it," she said. "I only did this because I know you hate parties as much as I do."

"Look," he started. Val was about to complain when he stopped her. "I'm sorry about everything that happened, okay?"

She nodded. "I am, too," she said. "The way things ended... It wasn't right."

"Can we try to be friends?" he asked.

"I'd like that," Val answered. After a couple of minutes of comfortable silence, she asked: "So now that we're friends, will you tell me what is up with that girlfriend of yours?"

He didn't know whether to laugh or to get mad. This was one of the reasons why things didn't work out with them -- she would always criticize his decisions, like he was wrong and she was right no matter what. But he chose to forget that, and answered: "Well, she's nice to me, and she loves me," he said.

"Oh, please," Val scoffed. "She doesn't love you! Have you even looked at her?"

Jason frowned. "It's not like you'd know!" he said.

"And how do you know that?" she asked.

"Because you wouldn't know if someone loved you even if it hit you with a truck!" he exclaimed.

"That makes no sense!" she yelled, her anger escalating quickly.

"Even if it doesn't, you know I'm right! Do you even know what love feels like?" he asked, yelling too.

"Yes," she said softly, "Yes, I do."

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"I mean that I loved you, you doofus!" she exclaimed. She turned and walked away before Jason could say anything

--

Ooh, cliffie. Mwahahaha, we're evil, aren't we, pr0udpnaii x33? Yes, we are! Yay for us! Okay, random weirdness over. It's 2:30 as I write this, so I'm pretty tired... But whatever. Okay, your turn now!

Haha, yes, we are pretty evil :) And sorry you had to wait a bit for the update, but hopefully, you guys will still review and let us know what you think :) If not, then we just might go COMPLETELY evil and not write anymore... haha, just kidding. But seriously, please review! We'd love to know what you thought about this chapter :) Fave line?

Oh, and as much as a I hate self promoting, go check out my newest oneshot called 7 Things, or my other story, Please Be Mine. And you should TOTALLY check out valele's amazing story, Way Too Deep, which I believe is complete? But with a sequel on the way. Love you guys!

xoxoxoxo